While I was attending the Cattle Industry Summer Conference someone said to me that one of the biggest dangers facing livestock producers in this country are the animal rights activists. I don’t know about you but it seems to me like they’re getting more aggressive and I guess fooling a lot of people out of their money in the process. They sure seem to spend a lot of it. Although livestock production is one of these whackos favorite targets I’d say it’s a lot broader than that. Just check out Spira/Grace sometime and surf through all the websites and organizations they’re connected to and support. Examples include, Sustainable Table, The Meatrix, FactoryFarm.org, Eat Well Guide and there’s a lot more if you click on through. If you’re not aware of what they’re doing then you should be. I’d love your take on what they’re doing online to reach consumers and if you think that’s having any impact on your business. Hopefully you’ll see the need to invest in some online tools to be part of the conversation that’s taking place whether you like it or not.
This post was inspired by yesterday’s release by Food and Water Watch (another whacko group) of an interactive Factory Farm Map. Is your’s on the list? They’re the same group that released a report recently titled, “Rush to Corn Ethanol Is No Farm or Fuel Solution.” I read through that one. It makes a bunch of wild unsubstantiated claims, raises questions that aren’t answered and when they actually do point to science they admit positives about ethanol production. Unfortunately it’s the kind of sensationalist junk the mainstream media likes to pick up on.
I sure wish we could get some more of their creativity channeled into communicating facts and not just emotion from people who may even be well meaning in their intent but just don’t have the knowledge or experience to know what they’re talking about. I’m being generous I know. The reality is that a lot of people behind these groups have an agenda which includes things like population control. I guess the animals would be better off if it wasn’t for us people. Me, I’m a Person who likes to Eat those Tasty Animals.
Are you against people going to farms directly to purchase their food? Curious for your take on that.
Not at all. I’m all for it. What I take exception to are organizations who try to create fear and panic in people for their own personal gain. They don’t base their war cry on anything remotely resembling common sense and science, just emotionalism. The big corporate farm is a myth. Most farms that are corporations are family owned. They’re just using the corporation as a legal entity for business purposes. I know lots of people who farm thousands of acres and those who farm only a couple. They get along great when brought together. I think the groups I’m talking about want to create division and an “us vs. them” mentality. That doesn’t foster good communications and a healthy debate.
Let me say right away that I actually work for an organization like the ones you mention in this post.
I’m not writing here to argue with you. I agree that an “us vs. them” mentality can be counter-productive, particularly when you and I are just two people sitting at computers. We can accomplish much more by communicating effectively with each other – trying to understand the issues from the other person’s point of view.
Believe it or not, I do what I do not for my own personal gain, but because I think it will benefit the American people. A lot of those I work alongside care deeply about the animals, but I care much more about the people. I take issue with enormous livestock operations because of the damage they cause to people’s drinking water, breathing air, and property values.
This is where the communication gap between you and me becomes so important. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I don’t have a firm understanding of the economic realities of running a farm. I haven’t even seen a livestock facility with my own eyes.
If you, as someone with much more experience in these matters, think I’m horribly misguided, I truly would like to know. I don’t want to waste my life. I agree with you that one of the major problems facing organizations like mine is that we’re often based in big cities. At the same time as we work to help rural America, we are (many of us, anyway) pretty out of touch with rural America.
Please write back to me, either by e-mail or as a comment following mine, and tell me why you think that people like me are bad for farmers. I’d hate to spend any more time doing what I’m doing, thinking that I’m helping farmers, when really I’m doing the opposite.
Breaking the barrier between me and you is a critical first step toward breaking the barrier between “us” and “them.” An open, honest dialogue can only help.
Best,
-Andrew